We were out & about the other day, looking for a computer desk for Jose, and we were thinking of going to Sam's Club for their free lunch - you know, the ones you get one bite at a time, going from vendor sampler to vendor sampler?  I'm not really big on those - first thing, most of their stuff I can't eat, a lot of it, I won't eat, and even more importantly, just hang back & watch some of their food handlers.....if you have any bit of a squeamish tummy, you'll be passing up a lot of the samples too.  Most of 'em wear plastic gloves, but if you watch closely, it appears they are using the gloves to protect THEMSELVES from the FOOD!  I mean, they will scratch their faces, run fingers thru hair, blow noses, cough, etc., all using these gloves, then dive right into the food you're about to receive.  Somehow, asking a blessing from Jesus or anyone else, just doesn't seem like enough to protect you from whatever germs they are about to bestow!  But I digress, just a wee bit..

As mentioned, we were contemplating the idea of sampling for lunch...when, luckily, I spotted the brand new SELF-SERVE FROZEN YOGURT BAR that has opened up across the street!!  Oh. My. GAWD.  Talk about spick & span, spotless!!!!!  Oh, and lemme tell you...the choices they offered!

First off, it's called CherryBerry Frozen Yogurt, and when you walk in, you are pleasantly greeted by a nice (and CLEAN) young man.  He explained the process - you go to the end of the bar, and take a generously sized paper bowl from the stack, then you go down the FOURTEEN spigots, pulling your choice of frozen soft-serve yogurts.  As much or as little as you want.  And, since we'd never been there before, and we didn't know all these flavors, he was sooooo nice and gave us EACH 3 little cups to do some tastings.  We filled 'em up with what looked interesting, then we each ate about half of each sample, passing the remainder to the other, so we each got some of it.  Dick even went back and got MORE little cups, just so he could taste more flavors.  I got a couple inches squirt of German Chocolate Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake swirled, Pralines (I'm from Virginia, remember?), and something cherry I can't remember.  Dick stuck to his usual, German Chocolate Cake & Tahitian vanilla....BORING, but he likes it, so we were both happy.  Sometimes I think he gets stuff like that so that I won't be pestering him for tastes!!! 

Anyway, once we put our fill of yogurt in the cups, we went over to the toppings wall.  Yup - it's a WALL of toppings!  Kind of like what's at the bulk foods aisle - big tubs with paddles attached to handles you turn.  turn the handle, and out plops whatever is in the tub.  Be prepared to catch it with your cup!

Coconut flakes, chopped pecans (could have had walnuts, too), Reeses pieces, chocolate mini-pariels, with multi-colored sprinkles, and then on to the toppings BAR!  There, I opted to pass on all the sauces (odd, no?) and picked up a couple chunks of Snickers, Reese cups, of course maraschino cherries (yes, plural!), I'm pretty sure there was some other stuff too, but I don't remember.  I know they had fresh fruit available, as well as caramel sauce, choco sauce, honey, etc.  All this goodness for only 39 cents an ounce.  As loaded as mine was, it only came to about $3.70 & Dick's was a bit less than that.  Move over DQ, you have STIFF competition.  DQ's blizzards are sorta hap-hazard - sometimes they're fabulous, sometimes they're almost bad, they're so skimpy on the mix-in's.  But here at Cherry Berry, YOU pick the yogurt, YOU pick how much you want, and YOU pick the toppings and how much you want!  We WILL be back!

So that was a couple days ago.  Yum.  Today, we went in to Corpus, to get me a new ID card.  After a little stumble at the gate (WHY do they say "visitors and vehicles without stickers must use right lane" and when you get in the right lane, and go by a zillion cars, do they have a CONE blocking the right lane booth??????  So we scooted into the Get-Your-Stickers-Here building's driveway, only to find out, it was NOT the driveway, it was the way back to the command center post and the vendor inspection area, and if you kept on going to the right, it was the doggie training/kennel area - and they're NOT training them to be friendly, lemme just say now).  Anyway, we got ourselves around to where Dick could walk into the right building, and he got his stickers for the truck with no apparent issues, and very little wait time.  Then off we go to the Tricare office to get a couple questions answered - we were ushered right in to the specialist's office, no check-in or wait or anything.  She called up our records, based on Jose's SSN, and answered all our questions, right there, on the spot, didn't even have to look anything up.  VERY helpful.  Then on to the ID building.....where I signed in, waited about 5 minutes & got called up to the office.  Told the dude what I needed, he printed out a form, had us both sign it, I noticed my address was correct but Dick's was still Weslaco, got that fixed, got my picture taken (Dick made me laugh by telling me I had bugs on my teeth), and got my  new ID card handed right to me, warm from the laminating machine.  Could NOT have been any easier or quicker.

Then guess where we went???  Oh, yeah, JoAnn's!!!!!!  Even after all the fabric I purchased in Weslaco for Yvonne, and you know I'm talking HUNDREDs of dollars, and YARDS and YARDs of fabric...I got a custom request.  For a strata star.  IN BURGANDY.  And some sage green.  Ok, that's nice, and it's our lovely neighbor, who's turning into a spectacular customer, but BURGANDY.  I did NOT get any burgandy.  Sounds like a good reason to spend some time in the fabric shop, no??

Of course, while there, I found what promises to be a spectaculy combination for her strata, and the fabric was on sale for 30% off, and it was fairly reasonably priced to start with, so, of COURSE, I purchased enough to make her some placemats AND enough fabric to make the same strata for my etsy shop.  I just know it'll be gorgeous!!  I have learned a thing or two from Yvonne, that's fer sure!!  Oh, and all thread was on sale, too, at 50% off, so of course I had to stock up on some colors I use a lot and then some new & unusual colors that I didn't have.  And, while we were there, I'd been eyeing those thread racks that hang on the wall, so since they were on sale, too, a couple of them just jumped into my buggy.  Another hundred dollars later, it was time to go!  Not sure how I'm gonna recoup the cost of THAT strata!!! 

House-wise, we had a lovely visit with Carl & Sharon, as they stopped by on their way back to Michigan.  They called us from Camp Wally-world & we went over & picked them all (including Rusty) up and brought them back to our house for an after-dinner (we'd stopped for Chinese buffet) drink.  Concocted a yummy drink, loosely based on a recipe that HEB published - mix up a frozen lemonade can with a frozen limeade can, pour in a bottle of sweet white wine, then pour in some Sprite.  Mix well & chill.  Oh gosh - we went thru that pitcher very quickly.  Of course, there were six of us and it was a small pitcher.  Sorta.  As the sun went down, it got chilly so we lit up the chimney, and all sat around, sipping, chatting & watching the pups play together. 

Since then, we've hung up the rooster we got in Mexico - and he is STUNNING, hung the throw-away rack from Brenda, put some faux greenery & grapes - it, too, looks lovely, put up some under-counter task lighting (LEDs) and they are fanTASTic, switched out the microwave to a new convection oven/microwave, changed all the light bulbs to the new energy-efficient ones, and have gotten a good start on cleaning out the fountain in preparation for painting it.  Hung a few pots with purple & pink flower combos, and got a trio of large cobalt blue pots for the front porch....planted with some attention grabbing specimen plants and they do look nice.  Pretty soon, it's gonna look like people actually LIVE here! 

Healthwise - Dick is doing well (thankfully), and I am learning to cope with the hand I've been dealt.  Talking with Yvonne about fibromyalgia & its effects was helpful and somewhat comforting.  While it's not totally debilitating, and there are many, many other diseases and injuries that could be worse, it's bad enough to be challenging and cumbersome.  But we're coming up on the date we had set for taking my Boniva tablet, and Dick's encouraging me to try it again.  I just don't know.....it wasn't any fun as I recall!!!!!!!!  Perhaps he's forgotten just how bad it was; perhaps he hasn't, but is hopeful I will somehow magically have built up a tolerance to it.  Just don't think I have the guts (now how punny is that) to try it again.

So now it's time to play with Bailey - she's be by herself all day, so she's more than ready to play!!  Just thought I'd share Cherry Berry with you - if you get the chance, GO.  Enjoy!!

Till next time!! Y'all take care, stay warm, travel safe!